Wake Forest coach analyzes Tech-Stanford matchup

"I just don't know if there's a better (postseason) matchup," Wake Forest's Jim Grobe said. "There aren't many teams out there who want to play Stanford or Virginia Tech in a bowl, and we get to see them play each other. That's pretty cool."

Grobe's encounters with the Cardinal and Hokies were decidedly uncool, from his perspective.

Wake lost 68-24 at Stanford in its first road game of season. The Cardinal scored touchdowns on its first eight possessions and 10 of 11 overall.

Five weeks later at Virginia Tech, the Hokies housed the Deacons 52-21. Tech scored touchdowns on seven of its first eight possessions.

Grobe said his young squad was ill-prepared for a cross-country flight and 11:30 p.m. east-coast kickoff, much less a Stanford team that posted the program's best record in 70 years.

"Stanford was obviously very talented and wore us out," Grobe said. "When we went to Virginia Tech, we got soundly whipped by a good football team. By that time we'd had a chance to mature a little bit, but we just didn't play well."

Not surprisingly, Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor and his Stanford counterpart, Andrew Luck, ravaged Wake's defense. After all, Taylor is the ACC Player of the Year, Luck the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Auburn's Cam Newton.

Luck, a renowned passer, hurt the Deacons running, scoring on a 52-yard scramble. Taylor, known more for his mobility, threw for a season-high 292 yards against Wake Forest.

"You've got two of the best quarterbacks in the country, and I couldn't really rank them in order," Grobe said. "You know how well Tyrod moves and scrambles out of the pocket. But what you might not know is how well he throws it, and I think the opposite is true of Andrew Luck. You know how well he throws it, but you might not know how well he moves.

"Both kids are surrounded by 10 good football players. Virginia Tech has more talent at the tailback position. If one was THE tailback, he'd have 1,500 or 2,000 yards."

But for all the depth Darren Evans, Ryan Williams and David Wilson give the Hokies at tailback, the Cardinal's per-carry average of 5.0 yards is just a tick behind Tech's 5.1. Stanford ran for a season-best 303 yards versus the Deacons, and tailback Stepfan Taylor has rushed for 1,023 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Led by All-America center Chase Beeler, the Cardinal's offensive line includes three fifth-year seniors, and Grobe rates it the best Wake Forest faced this season.

"Stanford does some pretty unique stuff running the ball with tight end and wing sets, unbalanced lines, and that's what drives you crazy as a defense," he said. "How do you fill all those gaps? …

"If someone asked me the question of which offense is best, I'd answer by flipping a coin."

Wake Forest scored three more points against Stanford than it did Virginia Tech but arguably exploited the Hokies more. Freshman Josh Harris scored on runs of 33 and 87 yards and gained 241 yards, a record for a Tech opponent.

The Hokies had just one sack against the Deacons — the Cardinal had five — and did not have a takeaway. In six subsequent games, they've forced 16, at least one in every outing.

"We hadn't figured out what we had in Josh Harris," Grobe said. "We were afraid to give him many reps. That was his breakout game. Nobody knew much about him until then — we didn't know.

"I think Virginia Tech by the end of the year was playing some great defense. I know early on they had some young guys out there they were plugging in."

Indeed, neither the Hokies nor Cardinal has been consistently lights-out defensively. Stanford allowed 52 points and 626 yards to Oregon, 35 and 498 to Southern California; Tech is yielding 4.5 yards per rush, its worst since 1987, Frank Beamer's first season as coach.

That said, the Cardinal's 3-4 alignment ranks 11th nationally in scoring defense at 17.8 points per game, the Hokies' 4-3 16th at 19.1.

"They run different fronts, but both are very disciplined, gap-control teams," Grobe said. "I can't tell you how impressed I am with both defenses and how they're coached.

"You're looking at 11 guys, and as an offensive coach you're hoping to find three or four you can go at a little bit. But these two defenses from top to bottom are as good as any we faced all year."

A winner? Grobe politely deferred.

"I don't see a lot of differences in these teams," he said.

David Teel can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com. For more from Teel, read his blog at dailypress.com/teeltime, and follow him at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP